China Lottery Sales Fall for Second Month

Lottery sales in China have declined in April by 13.7% from the prior-year period.

According to the Ministry of Finance, the total sales in April were nearly CNY35.99 billion (US$5.21 billion). Welfare lottery sales declined by 17.4% year-on-year, to approximately CNY16.29 billion, while sports lottery sales stood at CNY19.70 billion, 10.4% less than a year ago.

For the first four months of 2019, total sales of lottery products declined by 2.5% year-on-year, to approximately CNY142.31 billion. Welfare lottery sales totalled nearly CNY65.35 billion in the four months to April 30, down by 9.2% from the prior-year period, while sports lottery sales increased by 4.1% year-on-year to CNY76.96 billion.

In April, sales went up in only two of 31 provinces and municipalities of mainland China authorised to sell lottery tickets. Guangdong province saw its sales decline by 16.8% year-on-year in April.